THE Delhigang rape case may not have deterred criminals from attacking women, but it has definitely made girls more alert and conscious about protecting themselves.

A 15- year- old school girl showed extraordinary presence of mind and courage in saving herself from four unidentified men who tried to abduct her from a notso- secluded stretch in Jaipur.

While none of the passersby came to her rescue, the girl pulled out a small knife she had started carrying in her bag ever since the Delhi gang rape shook the nation, and managed to force the four goons to flee.

Around 6.30 pm on Friday, the Class X student, was walking towards her coaching institute, half- a- kilometre from her residence in Shyam Nagar, when she noticed a man charging towards her while pointing her out to someone behind her.

Before she could comprehend the situation, two men grabbed her arm and pushed her into a white Mitsubishi Pajero parked on the road.

Two other miscreants were already sitting on the front seats. Before the men who abducted her could settle on the backseat, the girl kicked one of them “ below the belly”. So strong was the kick that the man fell on the road making way for her to jump out of the vehicle. This prompted the three to come out of the vehicle and try to grab her again.

The girl screamed at the top of her voice and flashed the knife, which stopped the four from pouncing on her. Whether it was her call for help or the sharpness of the blade is a matter of conjecture, but it was sufficient to make the criminals get back into the car and escape.

After returning home from the coaching institute, the braveheart narrated the incident to her parents and brother who immediately lodged a complaint with the Shyam Nagar police station.

The police had not been able to identify and locate the miscreants till Saturday evening, said station house officer Bhopal Singh. The girl could not note down the vehicle’s number but has told the police the series of the car number and its colour, Singh said.

The girl’s mother said she has been receiving self- defence training from her brother for some time now.

Talking to M AIL T ODAY , the girl, who wants to join the army, said she had a grouse with Jaipurites. “ I was shocked to see that none of the five or six people nearby came to help me.

None of them even bothered to inform the police,” she said, adding that she had never seen any of her attackers before.

Pushed into a car by four men, the 15- year- old who is trained in self defence kicked them away